I cant believe I missed this!!! Tonsil Cancer?!

If anyone has followed my posts, you know Ive been going through hell for the past year trying to figure out whats wrong with me.

In Feb of 2004 I developed very tender and swollen lymph nodes in my neck and could barely swallow, I lived with them that way for a month. Finally in March I could stand it no longer and I went to see a doctor. This followed an episode of an oral encounter with a female.

She felt my nodes and looked at my tonsils and thought at first I had mono but the Monospot was negative, which those sometimes can be easily contaminated. She then gave me an antibiotic and a round of STD screens and sent me on my way. A couple weeks later the swollen nodes were gone with the medication. However, my tonsils never got smaller, they dont prevent me from eating or breathing, but they are large enough I snore loudly at night and probably have sleep apnea.

Since that time I had symptoms ranging from bad floaters in my eyes and decreasing vision in my right eye, to abdominal pain, nausuea, extreme fatigue, chills, feverishness, a butterfly looking rash on my face and occasional weakness and headaches at the back right of my head. Now I visited the doc again last week, and as with the three other docs Ive visited since the original one, they noted my tonsils looked large, but didnt feel like investigating them after feeling around for swollen lymph nodes and asking me if I had pain.

He seemed slightly more concerned about them then the last docs, and has even suggested the possibility of seeing an ENT after my bloodwork comes back.

Now I have come to the starting realization that I may have been overlooking the possibility of tonsil/oral cancer this whole time. I noticed that on the right side at the edge of the tonsil the area looks a little bit red compared to the more pink area next to it and of course the tonsils dont touch in the middle but they come close to doing so. They dont seem to have grown at all over the past year, but now my fear is that it has been so long Ive let them go unchecked and unbiopsied I might be too late, and that the cancer spread up through the back of my neck and into the back right side of my head causing the headaches.

Try to calm down until you see the ENT. I have been through the whole tonsil cancer thing with my good friend for the last year. An ENT diagnosed him as stage 4 approx. 1 year ago. Fast forward til today, it was a long road but he is doing good now. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help! God blesss!

Try to calm down until you see the ENT. I have been through the whole tonsil cancer thing with my good friend for the last year. An ENT diagnosed him as stage 4 approx. 1 year ago. Fast forward til today, it was a long road but he is doing good now. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help! God blesss!

Thank you for the Kind words!

I am only 22 years old and I guess the biggest questions in my mind right now are like whether Tonsil cancer could have caused all the abdominal pain and symptoms (if it spread for example), the dark circles under my eyes, the headaches and everything else. And also from the little Ive found about cancer of the Tonsils online it seems usually one is involved rather than both, I dont know if both of them being enlarged is a good thing or a bad thing. I also dont know if the fact they havent seemed to have grown is any indication.

Im just very confused and concerned. I didnt even think about this possibility til the last doctor took note of the size of them and seemed a little concerned. There isnt much info out there so I appreciate the help.

You need to calm down, I really think your fine.The fact that your only 22 is a big plus. This kind of cancer usually effects older people with a history of smoking & drinking. My friend was 38 and thats unusual.He had no other symptoms just a lump in his throat(on his neck) and a sore throat for longer than usual. He was more tired also. I think you should see the ENT just to be safe and get to the bottom of this. Your symptoms and fears should all be addressed. Try to calm down though, fear and worry can make you crazy! Good luck.

Oh yea! Im so worried about me, I forgot to say what I wanted to say the most. Im happy to hear your friend is on the road to recovery! I hear so many sad stories on here it really brings me down when I think of all of it, its so nice to see someone is winning!

Hey Ian,
I suffered for many years with strep throat and such when I was in my teens. Then around 34 - they started getting infected again - to the point of almost closing completely together. I had a very difficult time swallowing for about 6 months. Did get in with an ENT on a Thurs. and he scheduled me for a tonsillectomy for Monday. So it went VERY quick for the surgery (a year ago). But my tonsils were fine - just very infected. Now I have to tell you that since you are older - the tonsillectomy will be harder on the recovery side. It took me about 2 weeks to go back to work (had anticipated 1 week). So this happens to us adults quite alot.
Let us know how the ENT appt goes.

Thanks for the kind words. He is doing well, I am proud of him. He fought very hard and with alot of prayer, he is doing very well considering he was stage 4. God willing, it will continue. In your case, please calm yourself & see your ENT. Let me know how it goes, will be thinking of you!God bless.

Thanks to both of you. Boy I tell you. If I do have it, I have the worst luck in history. Here I was worried about every STD on the planet, and I was exhonerated of that, only to have it turn out that this caused me something as bad as this. Not to mention the embarassment and shame that will be associated with it, and even worse that it was the two singular times in my life Ive ever done it.

I cant keep doing this though. I have to stop and be a man and tell myself it is what it is, I cant keep chasing every new wildhaired idea Ive got because I always find evidence to support it! Now Im worried as heck because the area next to my right tonsil is reddened and just behind it that little "wall" that is behind your tonsils is "stretched" more toward the right. Who knows whats going on in there.

Its amazing what goes through your mind when you feel like its over. I find myself occasionally thinking. "At this point, having what I was originally so afraid of (HIV) may not have been so bad after all compared to what I might go through in the coming months, and even then I may have a short time left, with the other, I may have still had 10 or 20 good years left"

I know its ridiculously to think that way, but it does cross my mind and I spent MONTHS agonizing over that possibility. Still it was ONE thing, now Im facing a thousand different possibilities. I might have one 8 weeks or 80 years and at this point I know nothing, not one single thing.